Ortis Deley on SingStar Motown; The PS3 Attitude CelebReview

Welcome to the first in a new series of articles here at PS3 Attitude.

Instead of being written by the awesome volunteers that help run PS3 Attitude, these reviews and stories have been created by various well-known public figures, world-renowned gamers and media personalities.

First up is a review of SingStar Motown, written by Ortis Deley, all round good egg and presenter on Channel Five’s ‘The Gadget Show’ in the UK.

When we first met up with Ortis, he was very clear that he ‘only really played singing and party games’. Since we knew he had previously had a Gadget Show SingStar challenge with UK soul sensation Beverly Knight, it seemed only fair to let him loose on the latest in the franchise.

SingStar Motown features the new voice control system that first made its début in SingStar Pop, so that you don’t even need to pick up your wireless controller.

We’ll let Ortis pick up the story from here:

“My eagerness to get right into the game and start belting out my favourite Motown tracks was tempered by an update issue. This happens every time I put in a new game lately – anyone else have the same problem?.

Today was a good day to get to grips with one of the latest SingStar games available; I had band practice that evening. Using the voice control system – which I love – I figured I’d give Jimmy Ruffin’s ‘What Becomes of the Broken Hearted’ first play. I scored 4,606 and was labelled a ‘Wannabe’. Not happy.

I worked out that it must be the wireless microphone was lagging behind the music, so tried again after a few tweaks. 5,730 points on ‘Easy’ and that was it! I’m off to buy new batteries for my wireless mics!

As I weighed up which batteries would best suit my equipment, I thought about the game. Nothing’s changed since the last SingStar I had. But this wasn’t a problem; it is the music you get excited about. Granted, you could argue that a better selection of Motown’s greats could have been made available, but I guess that’s what the SingStar Store is for.

I returned home and picked up where I left off. It turned out it wasn’t the batteries, so I had to make do with a slightly improved score for ‘Easy’ of 6,094. I reckon I’m a few weeks away from making my presence felt in online competition.

I feel sufficiently warmed up for rehearsal tonight, and I’m glad to say that SingStar Motown is as enjoyable as any in the SingStar series. I can only imagine how difficult it was to narrow the tracks down to the final list, but I reckon the selection is a good intro to Motown for those who know little of it and exciting enough for those who’ve been fans for a long while.”

Marvin Gaye looking suitably moody in SingStar Motown...

We concur with Ortis on this one. Again we see another SingStar title that doesn’t deliver any particular innovation over the last iteration, but that is not such a big deal. If you’re new to the SingStar franchise, there are now so many versions available that you can comfortably choose your own entry point, regardless of whether you love soul, rock or pop.

So if Motown is your thing, this is a good a place to get involved in the phenomenon that is SingStar. For those that don’t know what is included, here is the track list in full:

David Ruffin – Put A Little Love In Your Heart

Diana Ross & The Supremes – Reflections

Jimmy Ruffin – What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted

Lionel Richie – My Destiny

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – Jimmy Mack

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – Nowhere To Run

Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On

Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On?

Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston – It Takes Two

Mary Wells – My Guy

Rick James – Super Freak

Smokey Robinson – Being With You

Smokey Robinson And The Miracles – The Tracks Of My Tears

Stevie Wonder – For Once In My Life

The Commodores – Brick House

The Commodores – Easy

The Contours – Do You Love Me

The Four Tops – Reach Out I’ll Be There

The Isley Brothers – This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)

The Jackson 5 – ABC

The Miracles – Love Machine

The Supremes – You Can’t Hurry Love

The Temptations – Get Ready

The Temptations – Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone

The Velvelettes – Needle In A Haystack

The Four Tops – I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)

The Jackson 5 – I Want You Back

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – Dancing In The Street

Marvin Gaye – I Heard It Through The Grapevine

The Supremes – Stop In The Name Of Love

A little about Ortis Deley:

Ortis is the newest presenter on Five’s flagship programme, The Gadget Show. This is a natural progression for him seeing as he has always been obsessed with gadgets and gizmos alike. Ortis is also now a regular face in the mornings presenting GMTV’s competition strands.

Ortis can count among his recent shows a new series of Sorcerer’s Apprentice for BBC One, CBBC’s SM:ART and Best of Friends, the narration of CBBC nature programme, Wild Tales, and Today on 3 for the 3 Network.

Our thanks go to Ortis for his time and trouble reviewing SingStar Motown for PS3 Attitude. Look out for more CelebReview’s in the near future…